Academic employee position for the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG)

The Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Aarhus University seeks an academic employee in the area of data science to work with various livestock based data. The position begins on 15 October 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. The position is for one year.

Purpose and description of the position:

The “green transition” motivates sustainable food production. Among the number of sustainability factors, the level of livestock-derived methane emissions is one of the key factors to drive the climate change. To ensure sustainability in relation to methane emissions from dairy cattle, continuous emissions monitoring and diverse emission mitigation strategies are of great interest.
In this context, a sniffers-based gas emission measurement technique plays a crucial role. Unfortunately, the quality and reliability of acquired data from sniffers are of great concern due to the faults associated with the technique’s hardware and data pipeline. A number of factors and their interplay form a complex unpredictable system of emission variations leading to an embedded noise that is constantly appearing in sniffer-sourced records.


The aim of this position is to advance the sniffers technique to allow high-capacity and high-quality operations and results. In particular, develop and validate a fully automated pipeline, enabling effective monitoring and treatment of methane emission records from sniffers, with software modules performing equipment faults detection, data filtering and quality control, to provide condensed reliable phenotypes records ready for quantitative genetic analysis, breeding value estimation and design of emission mitigation strategies.

Tasks and responsibilities:

 

• Using the developed at QGG software perform regular gas emission data processing and management.
• Keep track of the gas emission data updates and a status of on-site devices (sniffers) using the internal QGG software.
• Develop an automated data processing pipeline for HPC (linux-based) environment.
• Contribute to the QGG internal database development.
• Contribute to development of necessary database interfaces allowed an automated data insertion/extraction as well as data pre- and post-processing services.
• Contribute to the development of various QGG based software products.

Who are we and what can we offer?

QGG is an international research center with more than 70 employees and visitors from more than 20 nations worldwide. We offer a dynamic research environment where we value ownership, responsibility and a respectful work place culture. We conduct basic and applied research within quantitative genetics and genomics and our research is characterized by a very close collaboration with industry partners.

Hence, you will be part of a research environment where results are put practice and are used by industry and in public sector consultancy to facilitate the green transition.  QGG is part of Aarhus University (AU), a world class university. The city Aarhus is an exciting place to live with a strong student community and a high standard of living.

Qualifications requirements (academic and personal):

Academic qualifications:

Applicants should hold a master degree in computer science or other related fields with a strong statistical and programming background.

The ideal candidate will:
 

• Master or Bachelor degree in computer science/engineering.
• Have the proven knowledge and experience of software development, especially automated data processing pipelines, in Linux-based environments.
• Have experience in bash scripting and overall applications development.
• Knowledge and experience of C++ , Python, SQL, JavaScript are necessary.
• Have effective communication skills in written and spoken English, for the presentation of their research to various audiences – from experts to the general public.

Personal qualifications/social skills (relevant to the position):
 

• Have good interpersonal skills, are ambitious, takes ownership and are scientifically self-motivated and creative.
• Can work both independently and in groups.
• Possess good communication skills, being friendly, helpful and able to contribute to a good work environment.

 

Formalities and salary range

Salary and terms as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Unions.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.
 

Aarhus University

Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/